In Romans 3:22-26 Christ is presented as the Redeemer and the propitiation place.
Romans 3:22-24 reveals that we may enjoy and experience Christ as the Redeemer: “Even the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ to all those who believe, for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” These verses show that the believers are justified by God and receive the righteousness of God through the redemption of Christ.
For us to be justified by God means that we are approved by God according to His standard of righteousness. No matter how righteous we may be in ourselves, we cannot be approved by God according to our righteousness. Our righteousness will never justify us before God. We may justify ourselves according to our standard of righteousness, but that does not enable us to be justified by God according to His standard. However, when God justifies us, we are approved by God according to the standard of His righteousness.
The believers are justified by God on the basis of the redemption of Christ. Romans 3:24 speaks of “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” To redeem is to purchase back at a cost. We originally belonged to God but became lost through sin. The requirements of God’s holiness, righteousness, and glory were so great upon us that it was impossible for us to fulfill them. However, God paid the price for us through Christ, repossessing us at a tremendous cost. Christ died on the cross to redeem us (Gal. 3:13; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18); His blood obtained eternal redemption for us (1:18-19). Since Christ has paid the price for our sins and in His redemption has fulfilled all of God’s requirements on us, God, because He is just, must justify us freely.
God can justify us because the work of justification is based upon the redemption of Christ. Because God is righteous, He must have a proper ground on which to justify us. Apart from Christ’s redemption, God would not have the ground on which to justify us. For this reason, Christ’s redemption is needed. When the redemption of Christ is applied to us, we are justified. If there were no such redemption, it would be impossible for us to be justified by God. Christ’s redemption is the basis of God’s justification. The redemption of Christ enables us to be justified by God. God is bound by His righteousness to justify us because of the redemption of Christ, which meets all His requirements.
Through the redemption of Christ not only are the believers justified by God, but they also receive Christ as the righteousness of God. Romans 3:22 speaks of “the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ to all those who believe.” Many Christians say incorrectly that they have the righteousness of Christ. Our righteousness is not the righteousness of Christ; it is Christ Himself. Christ Himself as a person, not His attribute of righteousness, has been made the righteousness of God to us (1 Cor. 1:30). Hence, we should declare, “Christ is my righteousness. My righteousness before God is the living person of Christ, not an attribute. The righteous Christ is mine.” God has made Christ, who is the embodiment of God Himself, our righteousness.
The righteousness of God is not only God Himself in His justice and rightness, and it is not only the living person of Christ; it is also we who have been made one with Christ. Second Corinthians 5:21 says that the believers are made the righteousness of God in Christ. This verse does not say that the believers are made righteous; rather, it says that they are made righteousness, the righteousness of God in Christ. We can become the righteousness of God by having Christ wrought into us. Christ is the embodiment of God, and God, as a living person, is righteousness. Therefore, righteousness, God, and Christ are one. The righteousness of God is God Himself. Since this God is embodied in Christ, Christ is the righteousness of God. The living person of Christ as God’s righteousness has been wrought into us, and we have been put into Him (1 Cor. 1:30). We have been mingled together with Christ as one. Thus, we have become the righteousness of God. We must proclaim, “I am the righteousness of God. I have been justified. God is righteousness, and I also am righteous. I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I am what God is. I am fully justified.”